The power differential in pornography involving children is clear: adult men exploiting children, both girls and boys. The power differential in pornography involving adults is also clear to many, but discounted as unimportant by producers and consumers of pornography: mostly men (supported by a male-dominated society, by a global multi-billion dollar industry and by politicians and high-profile free speech advocates) exploiting women. The power differential is overwhelming.
It is unfortunate that repeated and long-term discussion and research about the harms caused by pornography has not been able to change legal reliance in the United States on the defence of freedom of speech. As I see it, the evidence is indisputable that pornography does cause harm to women, to men and to relationships.
Harm to Women: Women are dehumanised, humiliated and reduced to body parts by pornography (MacKinnon, 1987, p. 176). It is “hate propaganda” against women, “violence and contempt openly expressed” (Whisnant, 2004, p. 18). Women are depicted as subordinate to men, as enjoying hurt and pain, as existing only to give sexual stimulation to those men who find pleasure in the humiliation and pain of women (McLellan, 2010, pp. 68–73; see also Jensen this volume).
For as long as pornography exists, the harms to all women will continue: a lowered self-esteem; a confused and embarrassed self-image; a struggle to rise above the image of women perpetuated in pornography; a losing battle to reach and maintain equality with men; the desire to be treated with respect and dignity by one’s male colleagues in the workplace only to be disappointed again and again by those whose image of women is affected by their reliance on pornography. Harm to Men: Men, too, are harmed by pornography. The sex they are presented with in pornography is:
…debased, dehumanised, formulaic, and generic, a kind of sex based not on individual fantasy, play, or imagination, but one that is the result of an industrial product created by those who get excited not by bodily contact but by market penetration and profits (Dines, 2010, p. x).
It is lonely sex. With no actual partner, “…there is no before and after, sex occurs in isolation… There is no communication… no emotional resonance to sex…” (Walter, 2010, p. 109). While a man may wish for a satisfying sexual relationship in real life, once he starts using pornography, it often happens that sex with his partner never quite measures up to his fantasies. Dolf Zillman, a leading researcher in the field, found that long-term use of pornography “…breeds discontent with the physical appearance and the sexual performance of intimate partners” (Zillman, 1989, pp. 127–58).
Harm to Relationships: The lack of respect for women which is the basis of pornography makes equality in relationships impossible. Many men fool themselves into believing that the pornography they consume will stay in the realm of fantasy, thereby keeping it separate from their real-life relationships with women, but “… the more men watch porn, the more the stories become part of their social construction of reality” (Dines, 2010, p. 67). Whether in intimate relationships, in social situations or in the workplace, women will always be seen by men who use pornography as less than equal. The subordinate status given to women in pornographic depictions carries over into every other part of life.
Conclusion
If equality between women and men is ever to be a reality, then pornography has to go. Any activity which encourages men to enjoy, and be sexually turned on by, images of women being hurt and demeaned and humiliated, any activity which subordinates women to men in such an obvious way, will never result in equality and fairness. In free speech terms, pornography robs all women of their free speech rights. In feminist terms, it is not simply a matter of personal choice. It is a highly political activity. The power dynamics involved and the harms done to women show pornography to be an activity privileging men’s desires over women’s rights.
Recent examples, cited earlier, of the United States government and free speech advocates suspending their absolute dependence on freedom of speech in the interests of fairness show that it can be done. Pornography does harm to half the world’s population in the name of free speech. The question must be asked: Is free speech really free if it is not free and fair for all?
Bibliography
Campbell, Tom (1994) ‘Rationales for Freedom of Communication’ in Tom Campbell and Wojciech Sadurski (Eds) Freedom of Communication. Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot, pp. 17–44.
Dines, Gail (2010) Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality. Beacon Press, Boston; Spinifex Press, North Melbourne.
MacKinnon, Catharine A. (1987) Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
MacKinnon, Catharine A. (1994) Only Words. HarperCollins, London.
McLellan, Betty (2010) Unspeakable: A feminist ethic of speech. OtherWise Publications, Townsville.
Tankard Reist, Melinda (12 November, 2010) ‘Why is Amazon promoting sexual abuse of children?’ The Drum Unleashed, http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/41030.html.
Walter, Natasha (2010) Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism. Virago, London.
Whisnant, Rebecca (2004) ‘Confronting Pornography: Some Conceptual Basics’ in Christine Stark and Rebecca Whisnant (Eds) Not For Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography. Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, pp. 15–27.
Zillman, Dolf (1989) ‘Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography’ in Dolf Zillman and Jennings Bryant (Eds) Pornography: Research Advances and Policy Considerations. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
PART FIVE
Resisting Big Porn Inc
Julia Long
(UK)
Resisting Pornography, Building a Movement: Feminist Anti-porn Activism in the UK[199]
It is an exciting and important time to be a feminist activist. As inequality remains massive, misogyny and violence against women remains rife and the backlash against the struggle for equality intensifies – with women being objectified and sexualised by the mainstreaming of the sex and porn industries – women and men across the country are increasingly standing up to object.
The first decade of the 21st century has seen a remarkable resurgence of grassroots feminist activism in the UK. Lively online feminist blogs and discussion groups have appeared. Feminist networks have proliferated across the country, the first and largest of which, the London Feminist Network, has grown from just a handful of members in 2004 to a membership of around 1,600 by December, 2010. The decade saw the revival of ‘Reclaim the Night’ and the instigation of ‘Million Women Rise’ marches against male violence, several large-scale feminist activist conferences, numerous actions and campaigns, and the emergence of a national information and resource organisation – UK Feminista – which aims to help co-ordinate and support UK grassroots feminist activism.
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1 This article draws on research findings from my doctoral research, which involved carrying out ethnographic studies of two UK groups involved in feminist anti-porn activism, along with 24 in-depth, qualitative interviews with anti-porn activists from across the UK.
I would like to thank all the courageous and inspiring women who participated in this research.